If you’re wondering which games to play this Halloween, look no further- this blog post should hopefully point you in the right direction.
Our personal favourite and a classic storytelling game is werewolf. Werewolf is a narrative card game suitable for groups of 3 or more. The aim of the game is to try and work out who you should trust before the village is ravaged by the werewolves. Each character has a special ability that can help change the discourse of the game which allows for unique gameplay every time.
Plenty of escape games are themed around crime, horror and spooky occurrences. Why not try escaping from some haunted houses/ possessed dolls/clowns/ghosts? (click the images to be taken to the product).
You could even set up your own murder mystery party Halloween themed with characters and props to tell the story. There are also more light-hearted card game based murder mystery kits that require you to do silly challenges to earn clues such as Killer Party’s Fangs for the Memories.
For more information on how to set up your own murder mystery game why not read our blog.
Click the images below to be taken to the product.
There are several card games including Are You The Cultist? which allows players to investigate and discover a terrible secret after falling prey to dark gods in a cult. Additionally, there are TOP TRUMPS, a classic game that has lots of horror themed sets.
There are plenty of iconic shows and films that have now developed games. Why not try a Scooby Doo escape room game themed around a haunted mansion? Or escape from falling prey to Jack Torrance from The Shining? Or try to escape being murdered by Jason Voorhee? Or even a Walking Dead game? There’s also plenty of adaptations for games such as Monopoly and Cluedo that will always be a timeless hit at Halloween!
If you are looking for something to do remotely, why not give online Halloween games a go? You could be a paranormal investigator with Murder at the Manor, witness psychological turmoil with The Alp, try to free a ghost in Mansion Impossible or understand how the dead are alive in The Haunted Hotel.
If you need something easily transferable - why not try our Frankenstein’s puzzle book? Fantastic puzzles at the turn of every page with a story weaved through the puzzles.
Find even more Halloween goods on our website here:
https://thepanicroomonline.net/collections/halloween-fun-frights
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We have a range of arts and crafts puzzles in store for the mother that loves to be creative!
Why not try our Flower pot 3D puzzles, origami or animal making kits!
More creation kits can be found by clicking here.
Does your mother love to talk about the past fondly? Why not give her a gift that creates new memories from old loves!
Check out our Top of the Pops and Blockbuster board games!
If your mother loves spending quality time with friends and family why not gift her something she can get them involved with?
Check out our board games below!
More board games can be found by clicking here.
Does your mother love going to the cinema or watching TV shows? We have the gifts just for her!
Why not try our Back to the Future, Downton Abbey or Taskmaster board games.
We have wine glass holders and wine tasting games too! Check them out below.
]]>You can’t have a party without guests! Make sure to write a guest list and let people know what, when and where your Murder Mystery will take place.
Choose a Theme
A good theme can help to engage your guests and set the tone for the Murder Mystery evening.
Consider what films, TV shows or books your guests like and use these to inspire your theme.
Some ideas include:
Give each character a first name and surname and a motive for them to be behind the murder. Could it be obsession, greed, hiding a secret, revenge, insanity? It’s also great to think about the connections between characters such as their backgrounds, recent events, why they are at the party and what actions they must take during the course of the evening.
How and why did the murder happen? What was the motive and who was involved? Make sure there are plenty of clues for your guests as the Murder Mystery story unveils!
Some clue ideas include: a police report, diary, letter, code. You could even use board games/puzzles or a cryptex to give cues and pointers
Make sure your Murder Mystery narrative has a beginning, middle and end and don’t forget give your guests an overview when they arrive.
Once you have settled on the theme, consider what music you’d like to have to enhance the Murder Mystery ambience. For 1920s Gatsby, a playlist of jazz music or for Harry Potter you could use the score pieces from the films! Alternatively, you could ask your guests to submit song requests and sprinkle them throughout the evening!
Sometimes music without lyrics works well as people will be talking amongst each other to solve puzzles, but it is up to the host to work out all the finer details.
Costumes will aid people getting into character. You can either provide costumes and props for your guests or they can arrange their own.
It is recommended that each Murder Mystery character has something about their costume that makes them unique and distinguishable.
Nothing makes a party feel more like a party than decorations! Consider your theme and narrative and find decor that suits - colours, props, era specific decor etc.
Additionally, make sure to organise plenty of food and drink for your guests or ask for contributions. Think about food that can be prepared in advance and served quickly. Find someone to help in the kitchen so you can focus on the event with all your guests.
Don't want to write one yourself? We have a wide range of Murder Mystery games that have everything done for you.
Escape rooms are an experience in which a team of players must solve puzzles in one or more rooms to reach their goal within a time limit.
Physical rooms typically hold 2-8 players and last between 60-90 minutes.
Virtual rooms are for 1-10 players and usually last between 45-120 minutes.
There are games suitable for both beginners and for more experienced players.
There are games for everybody: child friendly, family, teen, adult and even experiences where players compete against each other.
Often escape rooms recommend the number of players depending on the room sizes, type of experience, duration and difficulty.
Always consider the players’ ages and experience levels. The more experienced players may be more familiar with finding clues and solving puzzles. Those newer to escape rooms may benefit from bouncing off other players and asking for clues from the gamemaster when needed.
Find a unique mission that grabs your interest- maybe you’re trying to stop a science experiment from going wrong or even solve a crime!
Check the number of players and ages.
Book the room/buy the online room and you’re on your way!
For our physical experiences, you’ll be greeted by the gamemaster on arrival, who will brief you about the mission.
For our online games, you’ll receive the mission briefing in a video format via the email confirmation of purchase.
Try to escape the room, clues can be provided if needed.
Don’t Panic!
Physical escape rooms can be categorized by genre or theme such as fantasy, adventure, action, murder mystery, sci-fi, horror etc.
Some may contain live actors - typically rooms for young children or the horror-based escape rooms.
Online escape rooms are usually either web, email, 3D environment or telescape based.
They can vary from clicking through a game website, navigating a 3D environment, watching videos and/or interacting with moving objects to solve puzzles and beat the clock.
For health and safety compliance, you are never truly locked into a room. A gamemaster will always be watching over you and if you need to step out of the room at any point, you can. Whether you complete the game or not; you will always be led out by a gamemaster. Escape room hosts always want to make sure your experience is enjoyable and memorable - and we hope to see you again and again (not by locking you into the room though!).
Escape room hosts will always be happy to answer any accessibility questions you have in advance via email or telephone or on our website chat.
Our online escape room accessibility information can be found here: https://thepanicroomonline.net/pages/accessibility
]]>So what did escape rooms do about it? While most continued working while allowing a certain amount of people to play at the same time while wearing masks and employees thoroughly disinfecting the space after every group, most started going digital. Which unintentionally have led to the new digital age of escape rooms.
The more the pandemic progresses, the more elaborate and creative the online escape rooms have become. It really goes to show how adaptive people are and how creative one can get with saving their business.
Adding to everything else, the online entertainment industry as a whole is experiencing and renaissance it never saw coming - from online gym lessons, through Zoom painting classes, to live video concerts! It’s not like those things didn’t exist before, but now, due to the Covid restrictions and lockdowns varying from country to country, these things have become increasingly popular.
And yes, while online escape rooms will never replace the real life experience, they are produced by the same people who have done the real life versions, and as we’ve mentioned many times before now - it’s very exciting to see what these brilliant creators’ minds are capable of when given the vast and unlimited freedom of virtual reality. Taking all of that into account, the cherry on top of the sundae would be that you can play in escape rooms that are literally on the other side of the globe from you - something that is very difficult to do with real life escape rooms. I know I’ve been very curious to play in some escape rooms in the US, Canada and even Russia, but I’ve never gotten the chance to, however now with the increasing digitalization of the industry - I can just go on their websites and play their online escape rooms! Agreed, it’s not like the real thing, but it’s the next best thing, considering how hard it is to reach the actual real life escape rooms - you get to experience a piece of work that the genius brains of these rooms have done with the same passion and dedication that they put in each one of their real life rooms!
It’s interesting to think about where these technologies can take us in the future and how the industry will progress - of course all that depending mainly on the pandemic. Even not taking the Covid crisis into account (which is hard, I know, but bare with me here), people are experiencing a decentralization from the cities as companies, schools and universities are seeing that everybody can actually do their job through a laptop, if needs be. What does that mean for people? Well, I personally don’t know anybody that is put in home office and not ran off to somewhere out of town to live in nature a little bit. Society is starting to see that when utilized, the technologies are giving people the freedom to be where they actually want to be.
Even post pandemic this trend is most likely going to continue, so the best option for escape rooms in the long term plan is to upkeep their digital escape rooms, if not develop more for their players. A virtual escape room costs relatively less than building an actual, physical escape room (of course depending on what you want developed), but it’s easier to upkeep and guarantees that the pandemic won’t be able to disrupt its business whatsoever.
I personally am excited to see what the future holds for the escape room industry and what could be developed further in the future.
We are also looking forward to expanding our own store even further, we are releasing new products every week. We have already released 5 new products in January alone!
Want to check out our latest arrivals? Click Here
What am I talking about? Online escape rooms, of course! What are online escape rooms? If you’ve been to an escape room ever in your life, it’s pretty much the same as its real life counterpart, just without the physical space and the developers have tried very hard to interpret the real life experience that the escape room gives you, only in virtual life.
If you haven’t been to an escape room, however - Google it, come on, get on the wavelength! And once you’re done reading up on what exactly is an escape room, get ready to know that luckily because of the pandemic (can’t believe I said that) many real life escape game business owners have turned to the virtual life in order to bring joy to their customers.
The best thing about the real life developers developing their escape rooms online, is that these same people that have put so much thought and work into their real life rooms, now have the opportunity to let their imagination run wild and, to be fair, knowing what they’re capable while abiding the laws of physics, I’m very excited to see what they’re capable of when they are not.
Unlike Zoom quizzes, where you’re just sitting down and answering a bunch of questions, online escape rooms give you the opportunity to dive into an actual, finished, thought out game, aimed to stimulate your brain, as well as a bunch of other senses. Not only that, it's a lot of fun too! All of the Online Escape Rooms include multiplayer for a whole team to play, which just like every other multiplayer game, allows you to play with your friends - Just send hem a link to follow which will redirect them to the website and directly pull the game up. Put in your login details, then when everybody’s connected, you can connect to the actual game.
Online escape rooms are a great way of having a group activity done with your friends and family during lockdown, for obvious reasons of course. Also, aside from the fun you’ll be having, you’ll also be supporting a business in an industry that’s for the most part - heavily struck down because of Covid-19, and that business will usually be a small one. But back to the activity itself - online escape rooms will, of course, beat zoom quizzes by a lot every day of the week, not only because it gives an outstanding user experience, but also the gameplay is specifically made and tested to give you the best activity possible.
Choices!
Having said all that, picking an online escape room will be a fun, but difficult choice to make, as there’s such a big variety of them! With over 20 titles - it’s all a matter of your taste, but what you do have to look for in these games is this - if you’re somebody that’s never done one, start off with an easier one.
Don’t let your ego come into play here, because when you won’t be able to solve it and use up all your hints on the 15th minute - then you’ll get pissed off and it’ll stop you from doing more escape rooms. Start off with an easier one, see how you like it and if you found it difficult - there are plenty more easy ones that will help you build up your skills and before you know it you’ll be all over the medium level ones, so don’t rush it!
Ditch the zoom quizzes for something more exciting, something that a lot of people have put a lot of thought into and guaranteed you’ll have more fun, not just as a single player, but along with your friends as well!
Ready to play one for yourself? Click Here to head to our Online Escape Room Store!
First thing’s first - how do escape rooms affect kids?
Escape rooms, just like any other puzzle game, does nothing but good for your little one’s brain development. The earlier they start solving challenges and puzzles - be they escape rooms or regular puzzles - the better for their mental development. In the case of escape rooms, however, not only do they get the developmental benefits of the puzzle games, when going to a physical escape room - they get to experience independence! They’re in a team with other kids their age and they get to be in complete control of the environment around them, they get to explore their problem-solving skills, their leadership skills and have a completely adult experience.
What should be your first step though?
Best way to find out if they even like it in the first place is to try one! Just remember to treat them like an adult the entire time - take their opinions into account, listen to what they have to say - some of the most brilliant players I’ve seen were kids - their minds are pure and work in a very straightforward and logical way, you would be surprised how fast they can go through the room once they understand everything.
What’s the optimal age to start?
Around 8 years old is a great age to start any many experience are suitable for them - the most important thing in this case is for them to be able to read well and read fast, because that is something crucial in this case, they need to have encountered logical puzzles or math problems in school by that age and have learned how to follow instructions and listen. Of course, if you think your kid is ready to start even earlier - you can always go for it like that, just make sure make sure the game is child-friendly.
How are escape rooms beneficial?
Aside from giving them a nice, independent experience for the first time outside school, you’ll be doing them a huge favour when it comes to their imagination and logic skills. Usually kids are taught in school that in order to solve a problem you start from A and get to B. In the case of escape rooms, however, each room has their own puzzle-solving logic, which more often than not - doesn’t follow the standard start at A, finish at B sequence. Escape rooms are built by different people, and different people end up developing different logic skills, when you play games that they have developed, you get to encounter a completely different way of thinking than your own - which for a child, is very important for their communication, problem solving skills and a lot of other valuable qualities that they will need later in life as an adult!
They get to find out at a young age that A doesn’t always directly lead to B - sometimes in order to get to B, you have to get through C, go back to A and then find D and then, perhaps you’ll find B.
Where to play?
Luckily we have plenty of Escape Room games that are directly aimed at kids and made especially for them. During the Covid-crisis we have ended up going online / virtual, which, until conditions improve, are a very good way of finding out whether or not your child will like the world of escape rooms.
Want to try one of our family friendly online escape rooms? Click Here
Check out our entire range of games that Great For Kids
If you’re an escape room enthusiast, it’s sure to say that you’ve pretty much had it with this pandemic causing a hiatus on your real life escape game visits, and if your significant other shares the same love for escape games then it’s a shared pain. So how do you make the best of this situation? Easy, you just need a little imagination and a budget.
Restaurants, cinemas and pretty much all entertainment centers that blow up on Valentine’s day will most likely be closed, or if not - will be working on 50% and requiring masks and sanitizers at all time. I'm sure the only mask you want to see on Valentine’s day is some kind of kinky one. So instead of wasting money away and fearing arrest because of public affection, due to pandemic rules, why not set up something at home that will be enjoyed thoroughly without social distancing? Here’s what we have in mind.
So how do you pull that one off? Easy. First off - if you don’t feel creative or your imagination doesn’t exactly work overtime, there are plenty downloadable do-it-yourself escape rooms & online escape rooms. You’ll find most of them aren't as personal so instead of trying to “avoid the lasers” game, you can… well, you can do that, if you have lasers. You get the idea.
If however you have ideas of your own - don’t be afraid to act out on them, remember - you’re not a professional, you’re doing this for fun, and also - stick to things that you can both do at the same time - so yes - include puzzles for your loved one, but mainly pay attention to activities that both of you can do at the same time. And don’t go overboard - around 5-6 challenges or puzzles would be more than enough, and the more bells and whistles to them - the better. Try focusing on the “fun” more than the difficulty level, professional puzzle-makers for escape rooms test and condition their puzzles and quests with special algorithms and test groups and the process of making a complete escape room is very complicated, so don’t put pressure on yourself!
Keep in mind, in the case of the make-it-at-home escape room, you’re going to be both a player and a game master - so make sure you write a script beforehand that you can use throughout the game, and make sure you thoroughly explain everything and get your loved one in the mood before starting. And don’t forget the ambient music! There’s a reason that ambient music is present in escape rooms, it’s not just for your personal pleasure - it helps players feel at ease, really get into the game and stimulate the thinking process, so don’t be afraid to play some Stevie Wonder or Michael Bolton in the background.
If you think all of that would be too much hassle to set out for Valentine’s day, We have plenty of escape room and board games that will be sure to bring joy and excitement. This year we have even launched our own line of Valentines day cards, so you can get started just from that.
All in all, there are plenty of ways to spice up the scene with a loved one, but a love-themed escape room at home for a couple that is especially into real life escape games, really takes the cake - pandemic or not. So why not put your thinking cap on and come up with something extra special this year, I mean, if worst comes to worst, keep the game simple. Get some handcuffs, lock them up and then "lose" the key.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Get one of our Valentine's Day escape room cards - CLICK HERE
To check out our range of Online Games - CLICK HERE
To browse our Escape Room board games - CLICK HERE
Although most escape rooms have turned virtual in order to continue entertaining their clients, still - playing in front of a computer monitor is very, very different than the real life experience. So what can you do about it? Simple - just bring the magic of the escape room world right at home.
How do you do it? First of all, like any other good thing - you need a plan - first decide what’s the occasion surrounding it? Are you doing it as a birthday surprise? Maybe you want to make a nice gift for you and your spouse’s anniversary? Or maybe you just want to spice up a Friday night - either way - here are some tips that will make your experience much better.
First of all! Keep in mind that you’re not a professional, this is an amateur escape room and what it lacks in professionalism, it makes up with a lot of love and devotion. One thing that's vital for the end result: Have fun! - professional escape room designers need a lot of time and effort in order to test and condition a fully working game and bring it out to the public, so please, don’t put pressure on yourself!
Now that we have that out of the way, you need a budget to follow and a theme - think about the person or group of people that are going to play - what kind of theme would they all like? Star Wars? Harry Potter? Game of Thrones? These are the questions you need to be asking yourself first, because ultimately that will determine the puzzles and the quests surrounding it.
Let’s say you picked Game of Thrones as your theme - you need to decorate the room accordingly and if you feel like it - ask your players to dress up in the theme for a better effect. Not only that but the items that will be used in the room should also be in the particular theme. If you’re struggling to think up puzzles, there are plenty of ideas on the internet with different difficulties, but if you can’t determine whether or not your players will be able to do them correctly, the general rule of thumb is - if the puzzle/challenge is aimed at kids - it should be easy for adults, if they’re aimed at teenagers - medium difficulty for adults and if they’re aimed at adults - well, you get the picture by now.
Don’t limit yourself to just written down puzzles/challenges, you can make it more interesting by adding a game in there that requires two or more players to be involved in order to solve it! Remember, it’s your own escape room at home, you’re the game master and you decide what will happen - there are no particular rules you need to stick to, aside from the general escape room theme.
If you have trouble with getting more and fresh ideas - have a look around Amazon and you will soon find a range of weird and wonderful items that might be perfect for what you want to make - there are many of those sorts - you just need to let your imagination run free.
In any way - making an escape room at home is a very fun activity and guaranteed will make an otherwise dull evening - very exciting!
If, however, you don’t have the time or really aren’t that creative of a person and want something you can play around the house then our Escape Room board games will be perfect for you.
Click Here to check out our range of 50 games including The Walking Dead & Star Wars!
Let’s start with the main things - there are going to be puzzles and challenges that will require solving in order to proceed, the goal is to escape in 60 minutes, you’ll need to follow and if you get stuck, you can just ask for clues that if your team decide to use them. If you go over the 60 minutes don't worry, our games allow you to go into over time! - these are the main things.
Where to start?!
The game starts - what to do first? Organization is crucial in this case - everyone needs to make sure they have understood the introduction and story, what the goal is and then work out how to move forward. Find the first task and get to work!
Don't be muted!
Be audible! This is probably the most important point in this article. Talk out loud about where you are looking for clues and whether or not you’ve found something there - this way the entire team will be on the same page and even help you with what you are working on. The crucial mistake that some teams do, even veteran ones, is that they don’t talk to each other during the game and waste time by checking everything the other players have already checked - not because they don’t trust them, but because they just haven’t said anything and nobody knows that this clue has been checked.
Talk to each other, even about the stupid things you find! Sometimes when people are working under pressure, they ditch logic and throw it right out the window, and it’s not intentional, different people react differently under stress and some just shut up and do the job. Which is a generally a right approach to problem-solving, but not when it comes to escape rooms. Why? Because you’d be doing one thing and your teammates would just be confused as to what you’re doing and how you’ve done it - which is important when playing escape room games, because sometimes the process of challenge and puzzle solving is important to the overall game - you might have done something or missed seeing something important that you’ll need later on in the game and because you haven’t said anything - you’ll have to throw extra game time for rediscovering it.
Should we get a clue?
Always, always, always ask your teammates whether or not you want a clue! Don't just mash the “hints” button - it’s important. Make sure you are all in agreement and check if it’s fair to everybody, after all - you’re there to think AND to have fun!
Listen & read carefully!
Unlike a live escape room, everything isn't spread around a whole room for you to rummage, everything you need is infront of you on your screen. It's up to you and your friends to solve it so make sure you have a keen eye for detail.
Notice patterns, decipher riddles and find the answers and you'll go far!
Following these simple hints will insure your first game goes smoothly and impressively fast for new players, as well as your safe and fun time in this new endeavour!
Ready to book? Just CLICK HERE to view The Panic Room Online's selection of Online Escape Rooms
1. Escape rooms
We’ll start with probably the best possible activity that will not only guarantee your team having fun, but also actually practically help boost team performance (see our previous blog post that thoroughly explains it [Click Here]. Not only will you be able to see your team in action, but you’ll also have the time of your lives doing it - you have plenty of themes to pick from, depending whether or not you feel more adventurous or whimsical. To check out our physical escape rooms in Gravesend, Kent or Harlow, Essex Click Here
2. Laser tag
You might be thinking “Psh, these are for kids!” but if Barney Stinson could pull it off while wearing a suit, then sit down and listen - haven’t you always wanted to see your annoying colleague from accounting yell and run for their life in her office attire? The idea here is that everybody attend the game in their office outfits - not only will that make it twice as hilarious, it’ll make it twice as difficult to move/duck/run, which would bring a particular spice to the activity.
3. Axe Throwing
Yes that's right, you read that correctly! Axe throwing as a sport, hobby and team building activity has been growing very quickly in popularity across the USA & Canada, it's now finally reached the UK where we have our own Axe Throwing locations in Gravesend & Harlow. Want to find out more? Click Here to head to the Battle Masters website.
4. Cooking class
Perhaps my personal favourite on this list - like I said before, food has always managed to bring people together one way or another, and exploring a new skill will not only bring your team closer together, but you’ll have learned a valuable skill that you can later recreate at home to your family! Plenty of services offer on-the-spot classes, you tell them how many people will attend and they handle the rest of the details - you can pick from a variety of foods - from pizza making, to sushi, to ethnic dishes!
5. Karaoke night
This particular one can be done even during a pandemic (never thought I’d write that as a positive trait, but here we are)! There are plenty of websites that offer free karaoke playbacks with lyrics, all you have to do is follow them and you can do it from the comfort of your home. If, however, you decide to go and do it at a bar - depending on how big your office is - the bar itself can hold a competition between teams - you can split into teams of several people and sing your hearts out!
6. Painting with a professional
Another one that I personally enjoy a lot - usually the activity is organized at a bar, but many services offer on-the-spot (be it at the office or somewhere else) where, again, you just inform them how many people there will be and they take care of the rest. A professional artist comes by and teaches you step-by-step while demonstrating on their own canvas, how to paint a painting. Don’t worry, it’s always something easy and pretty and it’s for the experience, critics from the Louvre will not be attending to assess your work.
7. Wall climbing
If you’re not deathly afraid of heights, wall climbing can be a great experience, not only as you’ll learn how to safely make your way up a 10 meter wall (never know when that will come in handy), but also because you’ll most likely get to watch your office manager dangle starfish-style while the facility assistant slowly eases them down to the ground. If you are afraid of heights, however, you can sit comfortably on the couch adjacent to the activity area and enjoy the events unfold as you’re sipping on your cappuccino.
8. Darts
No longer the old fashioned game in the pub, companies like Flight Club have brought Darts into the 21st century making an old activity brand new again. Get into groups and throw the night away using digitised scoring and mini-games to try. This is something set to take off in 2021!
9. Paintball
If you’ve never been paintballing, let me run it by you real quick - you’re separated into two teams and given very real guns that shoot coloured balls, you get equipped with a helmet and protective gear and there are different games that you can play, but the short and sweet is - you just shoot at each other. The catch is that when you get hit with one of those balls, it hurts - not terribly but it can leave a mark, so the stakes are pretty high here and the benefits aside from having fun? Ever gotten so pissed off at someone you just wanted to shoot them? Well, now’s your chance, a quick trip to the paintball center and you’ll leave the place having resolved all the issues with all your colleagues.
10. Go Karting
This is a sure way to get your competitive juices flowing, especially if you put a price at the end of the game like a trophy or a SPA day gift card. Keep in mind these little cars are really powerful so you’ll probably have to talk to the establishment before you go and run it through with your colleagues to figure out who’s going to race in which cars so it’s fair. Best part? You can all watch each other race and then get the recordings for keeps!
In any case, the most important thing is having fun, so ditch the office games and Domino’s this year and if you can, mix things up and make it more interesting!
Unfortunately due to COVID-19, many activities are currently unable to be booked which is a shame as they are all a lot of fun. During Lockdown we have created a range of Remote Team Building Escape Rooms that will be perfect for curing those remote working blues and help bring your team together while they are apart.
Interested in our Online Escape Rooms for Remote Team Building? Click Here to get more info
Thankfully technologies are advanced enough and our good old laptops can do more than just pile up work. Our favourite escape rooms have thankfully started to adjust to the pandemic. Games that were previously only accessible physically have turned online for the sake of the public, and we’ll be damned if we don’t take advantage of that.
With the risk of developing cabin fever, online escape rooms have arrived just in time to prevent that. You might ask - ‘Why play them? There are plenty of games I can just buy and play.’ True! But if you’re a fan of escape rooms, you’ll know that a good game will cost you a lot and you’ll still only be able to play it once, just like a regular escape room.
Online escape games offer you the same (if not better) gaming experience, for a fraction of the price you might pay for a game at the store, with the same benefits and none of the commitment. You’ll also be supporting a business in an industry that’s currently struggling, while enjoying the game development of people who actively work in that market and know what the public wants and enjoys. Puzzles and gameplay will still be developed by the teams of your favourite real life escape rooms, so rest assured that if you’ve ever enjoyed a game at their establishment, you’ll surely enjoy the online version they offer, simply because it’s from the same developers and also - with the element of unlimited abilities, without having to abide by the laws of physics.
That’s the second exciting thing about escape rooms - developers can actually let their imagination run free, and knowing what they come up with in real life, it’s exciting to think what they can come up with in a world where everything goes. Flying? Space adventures? Underwater puzzles? One can only guess and the only way to find out is do contact your favourite escape rooms and see if they offer online adventures. This is great news for all escape room lovers, especially now at a time where we need them most. And another great thing? Most of these online escape rooms can be played by groups of a few people, so you can invite your friends or colleagues and have a little after work adventure while sharing an online drink - something I’m sure we can all say we could use ever since miss Covid-19 came to be.
Be it individually or with friends, online escape rooms do a world of great to all fans of the genre and generally to people who enjoy stimulating their brain activity in a fun, exciting way. They’re not like your regular crossword puzzle or Rubik’s cube, rather they bring not only activity to the brain, but also the excitement and element of surprise as the plot and development of these games are kept secret with the only way of finding out is actually playing them.
All in all we can say a huge “thank you” to online escape rooms for finding a way of bringing people together while simultaneously not outstep lockdown, as well as reacting really fast to the market changes and giving their customers an outstanding experience by making amazing gameplay, puzzles and adventures that can keep one entertained along with their friends for hours!
Ready to play one for yourself? Click Here to head to our Online Escape Room Store!
Now back to your office in 2021, manager’s starting to make some good points so you start thinking - how DO you get a team to cooperate better and make the work flow smoother? Obviously the reason that team building are sponsored by the company is with that reason, but most of them end up a drunken mess at a resort somewhere, so how can you make an efficient one?
How to bring the team closer by cooperation and make it really fun without even involving alcohol? Easy - Escape rooms!
Why escape rooms? Simple - be they real or online, their main goal is this - placing the players in a fun, exciting environment, where they have no choice but to cooperate in order to solve all the puzzles and win. So rest assured, everybody will know everybody else’s name by the end of the game, and not only that! They will also see that these colleagues they usually shy away from asking for help, might actually have a good way of thinking and maybe if they apply that way of thinking back at the office - work flow might actually go smooth as butter!
What about the underachievers? Escape rooms are a great place to spot the office ‘underachievers’ - the people who don’t do much and rely on their colleagues to drag them along for the sake of the team. Why is that valuable? Not only will you be able to spot them, if you’re the manager of the branch, it will be a great opportunity to help this person out and see why they are slacking and what you can do to help him be better, which not only will help the person in question, it will also boost morale greatly.
If you want to make the gaming process even more interesting for a larger team of people - split them up into a few player groups, you can set up a little tournament with a prize at the end and have the groups that have passed watch their other colleagues play - you can make a whole party out of it!
This type of team building has an enormous benefit for teams that work together on a daily basis - people have the opportunity to see their colleagues in a new, fun light - something that in these busy times is sometimes a rare sight, especially when stress and deadlines take over. Why is that important?
People react differently under stress, and some people just become really crabby, which makes their colleagues think they’re crabby all the time, which will discourage them from grabbing a coffee with them at the office kitchen, which will eventually result in a misunderstanding. Now imagine putting that same person, with that same team in a gaming environment - they feel at ease, it’s fun, everybody’s laughing, including them - suddenly the entire team sees this person in their actual light!
This person isn’t crabby after all, they’re just stressed out with no outlet and you see that even after the game ends, the rest of the team has started to treat them better, to talk to them more, their work behaviour towards them changes and suddenly you have a team with no outcasts!
The real life or online escape room gaming experience is the ultimate gift you can give your team, one that not only will have them talking about it for weeks after that, but also one that will have the greatest of benefits to them - both individually and as a team, which is the main reason team building is a thing to begin with, and of course, taking care of your employees is the best way to insure that you will have happy, satisfied clients and better revenue!
Interested in our Online Escape Rooms? Click Here to get more info